Page 13 of The Payment

The rush of purpose washed away the unwanted confusion.This was the path he had originally chosen twenty years ago as he was kneeling in the ruins of his life.There was no room for doubt, for misplaced empathy, for second thoughts about Tatiana’s role in it all.

“Let me make one thing clear.”Jarek’s expression hardened back into the mask of the feared Dark One he had become.“I realize now that Polov’s debt won’t be paid until I personally close his eyes for the last time.I plan to make him suffer extensively before granting him that mercy.”

He accelerated as he glanced in the rearview mirror.The Polov estate disappeared as the road carved around a bend.

The second domino had toppled in what would soon become a cascade of destruction.

Chapter Six

Tatiana

Valentine’s Day, FourSeasons Private Residences, One Dalton Street, Boston...

Tatiana’s heels clicked across the marble floor of the penthouse apartment.Her steps were light as a reflection of the joy in her heart at the achievement of closing the first big distribution deal for the new Boston operation.The contract was a victory, a reminder that even in this prison of a marriage, she could still achieve professional success.

Not bothering to check if Jarek was home, she kicked off her shoes and moved toward the windows.As always, upon arriving home, the symphony of colors painting the Boston skyline mesmerized her.Deep purples bled into fierce oranges while ribbons of pink stretched across scattered clouds.The last rays of sunlight caught the glass facades of surrounding buildings, setting them ablaze with golden light.The beauty of it all struck a discordant note with the darkness in her heart.

“Five years,” she whispered, her breath fogging the glass.“How am I going to keep this up for that long?”Five years of a loveless marriage to Jarek before she could escape without losing everything.The thought of him turned the taste of her earlier success bitter.

The warmth from the heated glass seeped into her skin as she pressed her palm against the window.The reflection staring back at her was a ghost of the woman who had once loved Jarek with every fiber of her being.Love that was now curdling into something ugly and becoming a festering wound that had no chance of healing.

The seven stages of grief weren’t limited to mourning the loss of a loved one—although, in a way, she did lose someone she had believed to be the love of her life.The stages cycled through her mind like a twisted carousel.The shock of discovering his ultimatum still jolted her awake at night.Denial had kept her blind to his manipulation for too long.Anger fueled her now, driving her forward when despair threatened to pull her under.She had tried bargaining with fate, with God, and with herself—anything to make sense of how love could so quickly transform into such poisonous hate.

Guilt plagued her the most—for not seeing through him sooner and for allowing herself to be trapped in this marriage.Depression lurked in the corners of her mind, ready to pounce in her frailest moments, but she’d be damned if she succumbed to such a weakness.

But acceptance?“Oh, no.That’ll only happen after I survive the five years and make the bastard pay for every moment of freedom he stole from me.”

Tatiana straightened her spine as the setting sun cast long shadows across the immaculate apartment.This contract marked her business acumen and proved she wasn’t powerless, despite Jarek’s attempts to control her life.She might be bound to him by being foolish enough to have accepted the clause in the contract—all because of her blind faith in their love—but her mind and ambition would always be her own.

“Fuck, I was such a fool!”

The fine line between love and hate stretched before her like a tightrope.She had crossed from one side to the other, and there was no going back.In the fading light, she tapped into the vow she had made the day Jarek had disclosed his true nature.She would keep channeling this hatred into fuel for her survival and, ultimately, her revenge.

With a sigh billowing toward the ceiling, she walked to her room.Her shoulders were tight with the knowledge that another forced dinner with Jarek loomed ahead.His insistence on sharing breakfast and dinner every day was just another form of control, another way to assert his dominance over her life.

“If he thinks these little domestic rituals will soften me, he’s more deluded than I thought,” she muttered as she peeled off the business suit and stepped into the shower.The first touch of warm water against her skin drew out a contented hum.

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